ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: Quick occupancy would squelch AT&T rumors

Published
5:09 pm CDT, Monday, June 3, 2019

[The City of Beaumont voted Tuesday in favor of bidding on the auctioning of AT&T's Main Street building in downtown. Around 20 people attending the meeting spoke against the purchase siting a variety of reasons.
Photo taken Tuesday, 1/15/19 less

[The City of Beaumont voted Tuesday in favor of bidding on the auctioning of AT&T's Main Street building in downtown. Around 20 people attending the meeting spoke against the purchase siting a variety of ... more

Photo: Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise, Photo Editor

Photo: Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise, Photo Editor

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[The City of Beaumont voted Tuesday in favor of bidding on the auctioning of AT&T's Main Street building in downtown. Around 20 people attending the meeting spoke against the purchase siting a variety of reasons.
Photo taken Tuesday, 1/15/19 less

[The City of Beaumont voted Tuesday in favor of bidding on the auctioning of AT&T's Main Street building in downtown. Around 20 people attending the meeting spoke against the purchase siting a variety of ... more

Photo: Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise, Photo Editor

ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: Quick occupancy would squelch AT&T rumors

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Tom Flanagan, the new owner of the AT&T building on Main Street, has the same property rights as any other owner. As long as he obeys applicable laws and building codes, he can pretty much do whatever he wants with the structure. Legally, within those basic guidelines, he has no obligation to do anything.

But Flanagan could do himself and the city a huge favor by getting a new tenant in the building as soon as possible. Flanagan would get some revenue, and the downtown would get some life and traffic. That’s a win-win that Beaumont needs to see more of. In doing so, Flanagan could also squelch the perception by some that the city is trying to claw back the property for riverfront development under eminent domain procedures.

City officials say that’s not really being considered, but City Manager Kyle Hayes said the property was included on his five-year master only because it would be “very difficult” for the city to develop the riverfront without that property and not taking the chance would result in a “lost opportunity.”

That may be the opinion of Hayes and some council members, but the bottom line is that the city was outbid by Flanagan for the AT&T building, which he purchased for $2.15 million. Again, that makes it his to renovate, rent or nurture. It may be unlikely that the city would try to seize the property through eminent domain, but Flanagan can make sure that this theoretical possibility never comes into play — even if he really doesn’t have to. If that building is humming with people and activity, any city plans to usurp it would move from vague to virtually inconceivable.

This story highlights a major problem with older downtown office buildings. Too many owners are basically sitting on these properties with little or no plans to develop or sell them. Legally, they can do that, of course. But in practical terms, this buy-and-hold philosophy stalls efforts to pump more life into the downtown, when there is some progress on this long-sought goal.

The city has contributed to this momentum with positive additions like the Events Centre and great lawn — both of which, it should be noted, were developed despite some grumbling from those who don’t want to take any risks or try anything different. Those successes could be motivating city officials to eye the AT&T building, but that would not be the right approach this time. That building is Flanagan’s now, and we hope he can make it bustling again soon.